Ch.8484. The Warring States

They look good together.

This was a murmur from a merchant watching Count Wellesley and Lady Hyde as they toured the territory.

The tall young lord and the beautiful lady. Even setting aside their status, they made a rather well-matched pair.

Though perhaps premature, there were also comments that the new lord seemed to be a decent man.

This was thanks to Erick Wellesley resolving several troublesome issues in the territory despite appearing reluctant. He was also planning to soon solve the problem of Baron Rozenia’s household, which was selling off possessions at bargain prices to pay their servants’ wages.

“Is this… good enough to live with?”

A resident tilted their head and asked themselves this question.

For commoners who rarely had the chance to leave the territory, it was hard to feel the difference directly, but this seemed good enough. After all, they heard about conditions in other territories from peddlers and adventurers.

It was an era where people had to be satisfied just having a lord who wasn’t consumed by madness.

***

At the same time, in the Microssian Federation.

A loose alliance of nine countries, with over 60 inhabited islands.

Though they were easily plundered by a small number of demons due to their fragmented power structure, this wasn’t entirely disadvantageous. Thanks to this geographical characteristic, there were still people alive.

‘I must survive.’

This was the muttered phrase of “Rodrigo,” a dragon hunter, as he tossed and turned in pain.

He took immense pride in the profession he had practiced since childhood.

In the Federation, where people rarely faced the Demon Lord’s army directly or were attacked by higher monsters like ogres or cyclopes.

What the people here feared most were sea dragons. These massive reptiles occasionally crawled onto land, threatening the survival of the Federation’s citizens. Rodrigo had been hunting these sea dragons for a living since before he turned twenty.

Now in his late twenties, he was the best among those in his profession.

Due to the nature of his work, he used spears more often than swords and was more accustomed to group hunting than one-on-one combat, but his skills were not to be dismissed. For about two years now, he had been evaluated as top-tier Expert level.

If he set his mind to it, he could hunt anyone or anything.

It was this absolute confidence that led him to dare challenge Bynessa of the Tetrad. He couldn’t just stand by while demons freely roamed the Federation.

Fortunately, his colleagues shared similar thoughts.

– “Those idiots won’t get anything done if we leave it to them. I thought they’d at least hire us, but they’re just getting robbed without lifting a finger.”

– “I don’t want to get paid by Cordana or whatever it’s called.”

– “But can we actually win?”

– “We don’t need to win, just hunt. With our strength, it’s definitely possible. Come to think of it, we should have stepped up from the beginning.”

Eventually, the dragon hunters decided to join forces and strike against the Tetrad. Of course, they didn’t forget to ask for help from all member states of the Federation beforehand.

Though they were cowards who surrendered immediately after taking a few hits, Rodrigo believed they would lend their strength once they saw the hunters fighting back.

Yes, let’s do this.

The battle began with Rodrigo throwing his spear into the air.

It was a provocation to draw down Bynessa of the Tetrad, who was leisurely flying around on a wyvern as if mocking the Federation. The provocation even succeeded in inflicting a small wound on the wyvern’s wing.

– “Here she comes! Get ready!”

The battle that followed.

Surprisingly, a proper fight ensued.

It was thanks to dozens of skilled fighters dividing their roles to disperse Bynessa’s focus. Deprived of the timing to cast magic, Bynessa showed clear signs of confusion.

Because of this, they seemed to have the upper hand at first…

But their struggle didn’t last long.

For one reason: no one came to help the hunters.

Rodrigo couldn’t understand why nobody showed up when they had even provided ways to secretly gather without being detected by the Tetrad. Whether their information was leaked to the Demon Lord’s army and they were prevented from coming, or if there were other unavoidable circumstances.

Perhaps they were simply ignored—this suspicion arose.

From that moment, Bynessa of the Tetrad began a one-sided slaughter.

It was because Bynessa abandoned elegant fighting and simply engaged in physical combat. She scattered raw magical power and killed indiscriminately. Even fairly skilled fighters struggled to withstand a single blow.

In the end, the dragon hunters suffered near-total annihilation.

Or rather, they were officially reported as completely wiped out.

But strictly speaking, it wasn’t a complete annihilation. The most skilled warrior, Rodrigo, barely escaped with his life from the battlefield.

After facing various hardships, he managed to find shelter in the home of a noble he was friendly with, but it was amazing he was still alive at all.

Not only were his injuries severe, but they weren’t healing well, possibly due to exposure to demonic energy. It seemed he would need the help of an exceptional cleric for complete recovery.

‘But as long as I survive, there’s hope.’

There was good reason for his daring to speak of hope.

Previously the most skilled dragon hunter in the Federation, he had made significant progress during his battle with the Tetrad.

As a result, he had just entered the threshold of Master level.

It was thanks to this that he was managing to endure despite his severe injuries. His body, which had reached the realm of the superhuman, refused to let him die.

No, it even seemed like he was gradually improving. Though it might just be his imagination.

‘Three weeks… no, about two weeks and I’ll be able to move.’

Rodrigo already had a clear plan in mind.

The Demon Lord’s army would obviously leave once they felt the Federation was completely broken. Rodrigo planned to emerge from hiding and announce his survival then.

Considering the Federation’s dire situation, he wondered if they would listen even to a Master, but at least they couldn’t ignore him.

‘It’ll also be easier to negotiate with the Empire.’

A Master was in a position to do that.

Of course, his chest ached when he thought of the humans who remained silent while his colleagues were dying. If they had actively helped, they might have achieved the miracle of defeating the Tetrad.

“No, no. What’s the point of resentment now?”

He didn’t want to abandon the region where he was born and raised because of grudges.

First, he would rebuild the broken Federation… Yes. It might be good to take over an island and declare himself king. He would also generously compensate the families of his fallen colleagues. That much would satisfy him.

As he envisioned this rosy future, his murky emotions gradually faded.

‘I think I’m feeling a bit better.’

Rodrigo laughed hollowly as he tried to sleep.

Though he was currently hiding and barely surviving like an insect, he was certain that someday he would have the chance to take revenge on the demons who had ravaged the Federation.

……

However, Rodrigo couldn’t achieve a sound sleep.

It was because of a hand shaking his shoulder.

When he painfully opened his eyes, he saw the noble who had provided him shelter standing there with a cowed expression. The noble was also a distant relative of Rodrigo’s.

“Why so suddenly?”

“I really didn’t want to do this. I’m truly sorry.”

At these words, Rodrigo’s pupils momentarily clouded.

“The Demon Lord’s army announced that if they were informed of your whereabouts, they would designate my island as protected and immediately leave the Federation. …It seems the collaborators from Ibiza Island mentioned your name.”

“So, now…”

“I had no choice. I’m really sorry.”

It seemed the demons, those vicious creatures, had promised to simply leave if they were helped in eradicating the dragon hunters.

‘And you’re selling me out for that?’

To think he had risked his life for such people.

Still, he didn’t get angry. First, he needed to prevent the noble from tattling. Painfully sitting up, he began to persuade the noble.

Listen. I’ve become a Master.

We don’t have to be helplessly defeated like before. I’ve figured out how to counter the wyverns. I’ll be the rallying point.

There’s no guarantee the demons will keep their promise to you, and even if they do, only destruction awaits the Federation.

Don’t trust the demons, trust me.

After his desperate plea, Rodrigo painfully forced a smile. He needed to give some reassurance to the wavering noble.

But something was wrong. The noble’s face was deathly pale. It didn’t seem to be just from guilt.

“Rodrigo, you should have told me this earlier…”

“That would have been troublesome.”

A voice from behind the noble’s head, interrupting his excuse.

Despair settled on Rodrigo’s face. Thanks to his keen intuition, he immediately recognized the owner of that voice. It was clearly Bynessa of the Tetrad, who had personally come to visit—the same one who had killed all of Rodrigo’s colleagues earlier.

And the one who had guided her here was…

“You trash—”

Rodrigo couldn’t finish his sentence.

A dark green beam shot through and pierced his chest. He wasn’t given the chance to beg for his life or leave any last words. It was instant death.

The silence that followed.

The noble stared blankly at Rodrigo, who had died with his eyes wide open. Bynessa of the Tetrad watched the noble’s reaction with amusement. She seemed to have been somewhat influenced by Iclit’s advice.

“Of course, I’ll keep my promise. We will leave the Federation today.”

“…Was Rodrigo really a Master—”

“It seems so. Thanks to you, we were able to resolve this easily.”

Bynessa praised the noble in a mocking tone before disappearing without a trace. However, before leaving, she didn’t forget to add, “I must widely spread the news that the residents of this island greatly contributed to eliminating a Master.”

Left alone, the middle-aged noble stared blankly at Rodrigo’s corpse. He stared for an hour, two hours, just blankly staring.

Reflecting on what he had just done.

Shortly after, the Demon Lord’s army left the Federation.

No one was seen rejoicing. This was because some who witnessed their departure testified that “the succubus is not visible.” This meant that the cunning demoness might be hiding somewhere in the Federation, disguised as a human.

And even if they had all left, the situation wouldn’t improve.

Because now they had to face the consequences of what they had done to avoid violence. How cruel the aftermath would be was, at present, beyond imagination.